Gavin Griffiths: A new breed of fox

NICK FRIEND: Leicestershire were a ball away from T20 Blast Finals Day in October and, despite the haunting circumstances of their defeat, last season represents a sign of things to come, as seamer Gavin Griffiths explains

Leicestershire’s season could scarcely have reached a more crushing conclusion.

But for two handling errors on a damp, dewy Trent Bridge outfield, Paul Nixon’s side – underdogs in their T20 Blast quarter-final against Peter Moores’ Nottinghamshire juggernaut – would have stepped out at Edgbaston on Finals Day.

As it was, they were confined instead to their homes, abiding by coronavirus restrictions as they watched their conquerors make the most of their let-off: a case of what might have been as the autumnal cold descended.

With Nottinghamshire needing three runs for outright victory and two to win by virtue of a higher score in the batting powerplay, Imad Wasim squirted the final delivery out to Dieter Klein, whose fumble gave the home team – and eventual champions – the slice of fortune they needed. An over earlier, when Notts required 17 from seven balls, a similar slip by Arron Lilley turned a single into a crucial boundary. The match ended in a tie, but Leicestershire were knocked out: super overs weren’t written into the playing conditions.

For Gavin Griffiths, the drama brought him within a split second of a return to where it all began. During his Lancashire days, it was at Edgbaston where he made his T20 debut as a 21-year-old seamer, thrust into Finals Day action amid a catalogue of injuries just as he began to resign himself to the idea that his time at the county might be coming to an end.

“I had this mindset that I almost had nothing to lose,” he recalls. “I went to training and it was almost like I just wanted to enjoy my last month at Lancashire. I just remember bowling really well and probably about a week out, I started to get a good feeling that I was going to play. I was more nervous in the semi-final than I was for the final.

“It was a surreal day and when I look back, it was the best day of my career so far. You don’t realise at the time how special it is.”

^{Griffiths joined Leicestershire from Lancashire}

And for that reason, there is a pain even now in reflecting on the events of October 1, when the stars seemed to align for a young squad that, beneath the radar, has quietly begun to come of age.

Griffiths continues: “If I was to win a tournament with Leicester and play the whole thing, with a group of lads that I’ve spent five or six years with, there’d be no better feeling in cricket, which is probably why the quarter-final at Trent Bridge was so heart-breaking.

“It just felt right. We were building momentum. We’d not started great with the bat but to fall so close to Finals Day, it was heart-breaking. They ran a two and I honestly didn’t know what was going on. But then I saw Samit Patel celebrating and I realised we’d lost.

“I suppose anything good usually comes out of adversity, so it’s good that we’ve had that experience now, so it can drive myself and the lads to bigger and better things in the years to come.

“To be so close, we literally left Trent Bridge and then the next day you had nothing to do. Seeing the team you’ve almost beaten going on to win it, it wasn’t easy. I know from a personal point of view, I tend to use those moments as fuel to the fire to get better and look at areas where you could have been better to get us over the line.

“But to be within one ball of Finals Day, to then go home, it was a bit surreal and it wasn’t easy for a couple of weeks.”

Leicestershire were the only team to beat Nottinghamshire at all across the tournament. They lost at Trent Bridge in the group stage, before clinching a vital victory in the return fixture at Grace Road thanks to a remarkable knock from captain Colin Ackermann.

It was one of several fine wins in a creditable campaign: semi-finalists Lancashire were also cast aside, as were Yorkshire in a successful chase of 189 and Durham in a game that was televised.

^{Leicestershire came close to reaching T20 Blast Finals Day in October}

“We got to a point where, as a side, we were fearless in the competition,” Griffiths explains. “We respected people, but we didn’t really fear people in a way that we probably had in years gone by. That’s come through experience, for one, and belief that you belong in that arena, I suppose.

“I know, speaking from a personal level, there are times when you come against these players and you can fear them a little bit. But now, you sort of realise that everyone in the game has their own fears and insecurities. There are only so many times that you can perform and then realise that you do belong at this level and you can win games of cricket.”

There was a time when Leicestershire were the country’s dominant T20 force; still, no one has won as many titles in the competition’s 18-year history.

Reputationally, too, the club has acted as a breeding ground for young talent, though retaining those prospects has proven more problematic. Stuart Broad and James Taylor stand out as well-worn examples but, more recently, bowling allrounder Tom Taylor departed for Northamptonshire.

Quietly, however, a new dynasty is being built. The prior sporting experience of new chief executive Sean Jarvis has been clear in his first year in charge; he was commercial director at Huddersfield Town during their spectacular rise from League One to football’s Premier League. Even in a year as troubling as 2020, he has shown a keenness to move forward, rebranding the county by returning to its original colours of red and green, while promising further changes.

“People say we’re an easy target, but that’s because we probably haven’t performed as well as we should have in recent history,” he said recently. “That is in the past now and we like to say we’re a new breed of fox.”

Alongside him, Nixon remains in charge of the playing side at the county where he spent close to two decades as a wicketkeeper.

That stability has been echoed in a raft of contract extension: Griffiths, Sam Bates, Sam Evans, Will Davis, Alex Evans, Chris Wright, Ben Mike, Hassan Azad, Lewis Hill and Nat Bowley all signed new deals in the latter part of 2020.

^{Griffiths is a key part of the club's bowling attack}

What has been built, then, is a predominantly homegrown core, with a smattering of signings from further afield. Rishi Patel, Scott Steel and Ed Barnes are the most recent domestic arrivals, from Essex, Durham and Yorkshire, while South African allrounder Wiaan Mulder joined as an overseas player earlier this week.

Griffiths is one of several players with roots in Lancashire. He and Lilley came through their academy setup together, while Harry Dearden and Callum Parkinson were also products of the Red Rose club’s age-group system.

When Griffiths joined ahead of the 2017 season, he swapped one Parkinson twin for another, leaving behind England leg-spinner Matt at Lancashire for Callum, who was another new signing at the time, and has since become one of the county game’s most impressive young spinners.

And then, there is Tom Smith, a former Lancashire captain and Nixon’s second-in-command; once upon a time, he presented Griffiths with an award as an under-11 at Emirates Old Trafford.

“It does feel like there’s a really nice blend of youth – but youth from different parts of the area, bringing different skills and mindsets,” he explains. “Obviously, we’ve got Colin Ackermann who came in at a similar time; there are three or four of us who signed then who are still with the club.

“It feels like that group of players has come in, along with the lads who came through the academy, are hopefully going to take the club to the next level.”

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By extension, that means escaping the ‘little guy’ tag that has served as a source of frustration to many involved with the club.

“I think what we potentially don’t have is the ability to go out and sign two overseas players and recruit the way that other big counties can,” Griffiths reflects, “but we also know that within the camp, we have some outstanding T20 players.

“In my mind, Colin Ackermann is one of the best T20 players in the country. We’ve got Arron Lilley, whose batting numbers stack up with anyone else’s. Callum Parkinson with the ball, bowling ridiculously hard overs and performing under pressure in every game.

“We’ve got lads who might not be the biggest names or play international cricket, but when you sit down and look at their stats and how they perform, I think Colin’s numbers in a run-chase are almost on a par with Virat Kohli.

“There is a belief in the camp that we can win games from anywhere.”

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